Ye Qian cried out and pushed the little dragon away speechlessly. "Can you not act like a dog?"
Lan Xinyu happened to walk in from outside at that moment. The sight of two girls, one big and one small, lying on the ground immediately melted her heart.
"Oh my gosh, so cute."
She lay down directly and hugged Ye Qian tightly.
"It's very cold today. Let's warm each other up tonight, hehe."
Whoosh—
A small flame spurted from Amiya's mouth.
"Ah!" Lan Xinyu flinched back, saying speechlessly, "This little one completely wants to monopolize you."
Ye Qian shrugged speechlessly.
Suddenly thinking of something, she said to the little Ancient Dragon loli, "If it's not too much trouble, how about spitting out a small flame to bake me? I'm so cold."
The little loli stared blankly at Ye Qian's face, then suddenly, with a pained expression, she patted Ye Qian's head and spat out a new ball of flame to the side.
"Mama... not cold."
As the Dragon language was spoken, Lan Xinyu covered her head and ran out the door. "I can't take it anymore, I'll go to the newly built house next door."
Ye Qian watched this scene in astonishment, especially the feeling of her head being petted by a small hand. She couldn't help but hug Amiya tightly and kiss her face heavily.
Awesome!
Then, in the gentle flames, Ye Qian's body was dried.
The petite Ye Qian hugged her cheap "daughter" and closed her eyes, falling asleep.
In the middle of the night, Lan Xinyu sneakily crept to the window to watch for a while, but finally sighed and returned to her own house.
Meanwhile, Chen Ning had finished building the Arrow Tower at the mine and erected a second one.
And after this night, the number of skeletons had increased by two, including one Skeleton Wolf and one Skeleton Rabbit.
Early the next morning, Amiya yawned, then turned and rubbed against Ye Qian's leg, waking her from her dream.
"It's the third day."
As usual, the only breakfast available in this otherworld was basically purified meat.
However, now that it was roasted by the Dragon loli's flames and paired with seasonings bought from the Mall, it was exceptionally delicious.
This little dragon had a huge appetite, devouring 5 kilograms of wolf meat in one go. Despite her small size and weight, she didn't even need to chew. With a few gulps, she swallowed it down to her stomach.
"An ordinary person really can't afford to raise her."
Ye Qian felt that Amiya was now the strongest combat force in the territory.
Chen Ning, sitting opposite them, saw the two girls and finally cleared his throat. "I'm going to sleep. Good luck, everyone."
"Go ahead," Ye Qian waved at him.
It was unavoidable that some people were working day and night. The main reason was that the territory's strength was not yet high, but it was estimated that after a few more days of development, this wouldn't be such a hassle.
From recent conversations in the chat group, most homesteads developed very slowly, and their situations were entirely different. Some people had no decent monsters around them, so their early development was very peaceful, and they spent a long time steadily becoming extremely powerful.
Conversely, Ye Qian's current territory had not only encountered a giant pangolin but also a fugitive from the Holy See, making the environment extremely harsh.
However, surviving in a hostile environment meant faster development than others.
But for her, all of this was unimportant.
She only needed Life energy.
The previous consumption was solely to create a safer environment for the homestead. Now that most things were in place—the Ancient Dragon, skeleton creatures, and Arrow Towers—this combination of three combat forces was stronger than the homesteads of most novice teams, so survival was guaranteed.
At this point, earning Life energy for herself became a very important task.
Moreover, this process itself could continue to facilitate construction.
With 5 Skeleton Wolves and holding the little Dragon loli's hand, Ye Qian set off towards the northwest of the territory.
Today's goal was to search outwards around the mining area, killing all the red dots she could see.
Thus, after a full day of combat, Amiya's strength was raised to LV8, with her average stats reaching over ten points. Ye Qian herself also killed quite a few monsters, accumulating a total of 1620 units of Life energy.
She consumed 1260 units to raise herself to LV15.
"Getting closer to Level 20."
The next few levels required more Life energy, but the experience needed for each level was essentially cumulative. Therefore, at the current pace, it wouldn't take long to meet the advancement requirements.
"It seems I need to start thinking about how to break through the Level 20 limit in advance."
This time, she was busy until evening. After a simple meal, she slept until around five or six in the morning. Ye Qian discovered that she had 2 hours of remaining time before she had to return.
Although the time was this short, she could choose not to leave.
She could stay for another 24 hours before being forcibly logged out.
Undoubtedly, under these circumstances, none of the three of them wanted to leave immediately.
Because the homestead's development was currently quite good, staying a little longer yielded significant benefits.
On the last day, no one slept. Although Ye Qian hadn't fully recovered from the aftereffects of summoning her clone and looked extremely weak, she still insisted on fighting outside with her subordinates. She even managed to kill several pangolins with Amiya's abilities.
The 5-kilometer radius around the territory was cleared that night.
The remaining Life energy reached 2600 points.
"2520 consumed, just enough to reach LV19."
Chapter 35: Farewell
"You leveled up so fast. It's a shame you won't make it to Level 20."
Glancing at the time, with only 3 hours left, Ye Qian took Amiya for one last stroll. After accumulating 200 units of Life energy, they returned to the territory.
"It's almost over. This development has been very good. Though I suspect our home might be destroyed to some extent when I visit next time," Chen Ning put on his jacket and sighed, looking at the two girls in the rain.
Ye Qian turned to look at Amiya beside her and patted her head. "I want to know if there's any way to bring creatures from this world into Reality, like her."
Chen Ning shook his head decisively. "I'm afraid not. Only abilities can be brought back to Reality. As for items, theoretically, it's possible, but the conditions are extremely harsh, let alone living individuals."
"Is that so?"
Ye Qian glanced disappointedly at the cute little creature.
The little Dragon loli hugged Ye Qian's leg, looking up expectantly. She licked Ye Qian's leg, tickling her. Ye Qian tapped the creature's head, blushing. "Don't be like a dog, always sticking your tongue out."
Honestly, leaving like this, she didn't know when she'd be back, so she was still a bit worried about this little one.
Even though she had leveled up to LV9, her level hadn't really increased.
"I've pickled a lot of meat for you, all purified. Eat it directly if you're hungry. Try not to leave the territory if you can. If you absolutely have no food, hunt nearby and come back immediately. Don't go too far."
The little loli dragon nodded heavily.
"Hehe, good girl," Ye Qian ruffled the little one's face.
"Oh my god, I'm so envious," Lan Xinyu said, drooling as she watched Ye Qian. "Little Mom and little daughter, sob sob sob."
"Ahem, then today's matters will conclude here. After all, we can't obtain Life energy in Reality," Chen Ning said, maintaining his serious demeanor, not even glancing at Ye Qian.
"We can't obtain Life energy in Reality?" Ye Qian looked at him in surprise.
"That's right. In the world we live in, killing any creature doesn't grant energy. Only certain factions within the Church have special methods for preserving energy, and the specific advancement methods can basically only be obtained from those major factions. Of course, many Transcendent individuals possess extraordinary items that store Life energy and trade them underground, but to become stronger fundamentally, one still relies on certain factions."
Hearing this, Ye Qian was genuinely surprised.
Because in the real world, she had discovered that she gained Life energy after killing those people.
But Chen Ning said that wasn't the case.
She frowned and thought calmly, suddenly realizing it made sense. If anyone could become stronger by killing, wouldn't Reality be in chaos?
This indicated that personal strength growth should be subject to some kind of limitation.
"When you mentioned advancement just now, did you mean breaking through a certain threshold? Is it something that can't be done between the main world and instance dungeons?"
"Yes, reaching LV20 will present a certain juncture. If we consider our leveling process as playing a game, then Level 20 is like the eve of a job change. Of course, this job change is far from as simple as completing a mission in a game. From what I know, there might be some life-threatening dangers involved."
Chen Ning gazed at the distant sky, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully.
"Is it that difficult? Sigh, if I don't advance then, will there be any problems?" Lan Xinyu worried.
"Hmph, no matter what, you have to find a way to become stronger. You never know what dangers you'll encounter in the worlds you experience. Reality isn't absolutely safe either. I've recently met some people and learned a few secrets about the real world. Actually, that world isn't just populated by player groups like us; it's far more complex than it appears on the surface."
"This..."
Ye Qian watched the two of them converse, feigning surprise on the surface.
However, on second thought, she did possess the ability to absorb Life energy in Reality, and during her interactions with the Shadow Bureau, she had indeed received a reward of 600 Life energy from Shi Jing.
This might explain why Chen Ning's words were correct.
"We're leaving soon. Let's spend the last bit of time tidying up the territory, cutting down some trees, and preparing to depart," Chen Ning said.
"Okay." Ye Qian nodded and began the final preparations.
Soon, it was the last minute, on the eve of departure.
"My little cutie, Mom... I have to go now," Ye Qian said with a smile, stroking the loli dragon's head. "We'll meet again."
Unexpectedly, the little creature's eyes immediately welled up with crystal-clear tears.
A few seconds later...
"Waaah—"
The little cutie actually burst into tears.
"Ah, don't cry, don't cry. I'll come back. Don't worry about me."
Hurriedly hugging her, Ye Qian's heart melted.
Goodness, she looks so pathetic. You're a dragon, why are you crying so much?
"Don't go, Mom—"
Ye Qian: "..."
"Don't be scared, don't be scared. Your mom and we will be back soon," Lan Xinyu quickly ran over to comfort her.
The little loli was still crying heartbrokenly, unfortunately.
Time was up.
Everyone vanished simultaneously…
When Ye Qian came to her senses, her main body was already back in the hotel.
She looked down and saw tears from the little loli dragon on her body.
"I..."
Suddenly, she felt an emptiness.
It would have been fine if that one hadn't cried, but her final, heartbroken tears made Ye Qian worry about her.
"That world isn't safe. I hope Amiya doesn't act recklessly on her own. She can easily defeat a pangolin now, but she'll be in danger if she encounters stronger monsters."
She took out her phone. There was already a message from Lan Xinyu in the group chat.
Lan Xinyu: "Oh my god, she's so pitiful, sob sob sob. If only I could bring Amiya to reality, such a pitiable little thing."
Chen Ning: "Don't worry, that's a dragon. Her average stats are already over ten, her skills are that strong, and she's tough. Plus, with so many Arrow Towers and skeleton monsters protecting her, I don't believe she'll be in danger."
Lan Xinyu: "Even so, it's still pitiful to be away from her mom."
Lan Xinyu: "No... wait, what? Ye Qian isn't her mom. But it's pretty much the same, she's just so pitiful."
Chen Ning: "Did Ye Qian give her any instructions?"
Ye Qian thought for a moment and replied, "I gave her all my military authority. I also told the skeletons that they should basically listen to her and prioritize her protection."
Chen Ning: "That's good. She's a golden Ancient Hero, do you know how rare that is? It's harder to get than getting two golds in a ten-pull in a game."
Ye Qian: "Stop talking. I'm worried."
The chat ended quickly, and Ye Qian sighed.